Monday, May 9, 2022

Social media break improves mental health

Social media break improves mental health, study suggests

Date:

May 6, 2022

Source:

University of Bath

Summary:

Results of a new study which asked participants to take a week-long break from TikTok, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook find positive effects for wellbeing, depression and anxiety.

FULL STORY

Asking people to stop using social media for just one week could lead to significant improvements in their wellbeing, depression and anxiety and could, in the future, be recommended as a way to help people manage their mental health say the authors of a new study.

The study, carried out by a team of researchers at the University of Bath (UK), studied the mental health effects of a week-long social media break. For some participants in the study, this meant freeing-up around nine hours of their week which would otherwise have been spent scrolling Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok.

Learn about your brain in clear, jargon-free language.

Their results -- published today (Friday 6 May 2022) in the US journal Cyberpsychology, Behaviour and Social Networking -- suggest that just one week off social media improved individuals' overall level of well-being, as well as reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety.

For the study, the researchers randomly allocated 154 individuals aged 18 to 72 who used social media every day into either an intervention group, where they were asked to stop using all social media for one-week or a control group, where they could continue scrolling as normal. At the beginning of the study, baseline scores for anxiety, depression and wellbeing were taken.

Participants reported spending an average of 8 hours per week on social media at the start of the study. One week later, the participants who were asked to take the one-week break had significant improvements in wellbeing, depression, and anxiety than those who continued to use social media, suggesting a short-term benefit.

Participants asked to take a one-week break reported using social media for an average of 21 minutes compared to an average of seven hours for those in the control group. Screen usage stats were provided to check that individuals had adhered to the break.

Lead researcher from Bath's Department for Health, Dr Jeff Lambert explains: "Scrolling social media is so ubiquitous that many of us do it almost without thinking from the moment we wake up to when we close our eyes at night.

"We know that social media usage is huge and that there are increasing concerns about its mental health effects, so with this study, we wanted to see whether simply asking people to take a week's break could yield mental health benefits.

"Many of our participants reported positive effects from being off social media with improved mood and less anxiety overall. This suggests that even just a small break can have an impact.

"Of course, social media is a part of life and for many people, it's an indispensable part of who they are and how they interact with others. But if you are spending hours each week scrolling and you feel it is negatively impacting you, it could be worth cutting down on your usage to see if it helps."

The team now want to build on the study to see whether taking a short break can help different populations (e.g., younger people or people with physical and mental health conditions). The team also want to follow people up for longer than one week, to see if the benefits last over time. If so, in the future, they speculate that this could form part of the suite of clinical options used to help manage mental health.

Learn about your brain in clear, jargon-free language.

Over the past 15 years, social media has revolutionized how we communicate, underscored by the huge growth the main platforms have observed. In the UK the number of adults using social media increased from 45% in 2011 to 71% in 2021. Among 16 to 44-year-olds, as many as 97% of us use social media and scrolling is the most frequent online activity we perform.

Feeling 'low' and losing pleasure are core characteristics of depression, whereas anxiety is characterised by excessive and out of control worry. Wellbeing refers to an individual's level of positive affect, life satisfaction and sense of purpose. According to the Mind, one in six of us experience a common mental health problem like anxiety and depression in any given week.

Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Bath. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Monday, April 18, 2022

Overlooked: Millions suffer tension, migraine headaches at work

NIH/Migraines at work overlooked, understudied.
Millions suffer tension, migraine headaches at work, in silence

Date:
February 9, 2022
Source:
University of Copenhagen - The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
Summary:
A new study shows that people with migraine or frequent tension headaches have a reduced work ability in particularly three areas. The researchers hope that the new knowledge may help workplaces become better at accommodating those suffering from headaches.

FULL STORY

Imagine your head pounding. And when you try to move, a door slams, or curtains are drawn it gets much worse. Ideally, you would like to crawl under your blanket in a dark and quiet room.

This is how it may feel for people suffering from migraine or frequent tension headaches. Untreated, a migraine attack may last for 4-72 hours, and tension headaches may potentially last for a week. In Denmark, it is estimated that approximately 770,000 people suffer from migraine or frequent tension headaches.

Now, for the first time, a new study from the University of Copenhagen shows specifically how migraine or frequent tension headaches affect the ability to work.

"It is especially the ability to remember, make quick decisions and do hard physical work that cause difficulties for people with these headache disorders," says Project Manager and author of the study Kirsten Nabe-Nielsen.

Learn about your brain in clear, jargon-free language.

She hopes that the study will help to focus on the consequences which headaches may have for working life.

"Migraine is the leading cause of functional impairment among people under the age of 50. And headaches have negative effects on sick leave and productivity. So, it would benefit workplaces to open their eyes to the untapped potential that you find here," says Kirsten Nabe-Nielsen, adding:

"Indeed, we cannot afford not to take it seriously."

If you ask the Danish working population, 24 per cent of women and 10 per cent of men suffer from migraines or frequent tension headaches.
The possibilities of adapting the work during headache attacks depend on the type of work you have, says Kirsten Nabe-Nielsen, stressing:

"So also in this context, there is a significant inequality in health."
While people with academic jobs will often be able to go home a little earlier, work from home or choose to postpone the tasks that demand the highest concentration, other people, such as cleaning staff or nursing staff in old people's homes, do not have the same opportunities to adjust the working hours or postpone the tasks to be solved. Instead, they may have to call in sick.

According to Kirsten Nabe-Nielsen, it takes creativity on the part of the manager and the employees to find out which solutions may be helpful:

"It is about having a good overview of the tasks that need to be solved, and then having a talk as to the best way to arrange a work day. For example, there may be tasks that can be performed later in the day, or that can be solved at a leisurely pace or in a quiet space until the pain has gone."

"I am going to lay down"
Kirsten Nabe-Nielsen believes that headache disorders such as migraine and frequent headaches are an overlooked epidemic.

"We are stuck with the idea of the character Maude from the Danish TV series Matador saying 'I am going to lay down' whenever she is a bit stressed," she says, explaining:

"Most people have experienced headaches. Therefore, it may be difficult to understand how debilitating migraine and frequent headaches may be for a colleague, friend or family member. People still have the notion that it will be sufficient to swallow a pill."

Kirsten Nabe-Nielsen believes that there is a lack of knowledge in the general population about the importance of headache disorders. The same applies to the fact that taking too many painkillers to soothe the headache may actually lead to more headaches.

"Some studies show that headaches are the second-most common cause of sick leave -- surpassed only by infectious diseases. Therefore, headache disorders carry large personal and socio-economic costs," says Kirsten Nabe-Nielsen.

Associated with depressive symptoms and muscular pain
The researchers have used self-reported information from more than 5,000 active Danes with different educational backgrounds -- from people with long academic educations to unskilled workers.

"It is new that we combine information about migraine and frequent headaches with the participants' use of painkillers and with their description of the ability to cope with seven different, specific requirements at work," says Kirsten Nabe-Nielsen.

The participants also answered questions about their health, depressive symptoms and pain in muscles and joints.

Here, the researchers found that depressive symptoms and pain in muscles and joints play an important role for the context between headache disorders and the ability to work.

"Our results indicate that the handling of depressive symptoms and pain in the musculoskeletal system may be an important factor in improving the ability to work among people with headache disorders," says Kirsten Nabe-Nielsen.
Previous studies support the finding that headaches, muscle and joint pain coincide with depressive symptoms.

Among other things, you may see mood changes, and neck pain may be a warning sign of a migraine attack, just as frequent headache attacks may affect the mood negatively.

Under- and overmedication
The researchers find the lowest ability to work in the group of headache sufferers who do not use painkillers at all and the group who use painkillers on a daily basis.

"This raises the question whether these two groups are undertreated and overtreated, respectively," says Kirsten Nabe-Nielsen.

According to Kirsten Nabe-Nielsen, it seems to indicate that the group taking painkillers on a daily basis may not receive a treatment that works as intended -- and they might even suffer from medication overuse headaches.

"On the other hand, when you look at the group who does not take medication at all, it seems to indicate that they are undermedicated. And maybe it has to do with the fact that they do not consider their illness to be severe enough to seek medical attention -- but that is just our guess," says Kirsten Nabe-Nielsen.

Facts: What are migraines and frequent headaches?
The two most common forms of headaches are migraine and tension headache.

Migraine is characterised by bouts of moderate or severe pulsating headache accompanied by nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light and sound. Chronic migraine occurs more than 14 days a month.

Tension headache is characterised by mild to severe pain on both sides of the head. Nausea and vomiting are usually absent. Chronic headache occurs more than 14 days a month.

Learn about your brain in clear, jargon-free language.
Facts: Recommendations
Based on the study, and seen in the light of other research, the researchers are making two recommendations:

People with headaches should see their doctor for advice and possible medical treatment.

Managers and employees should discuss the possibilities for adapting work during attacks, in order to reduce absenteeism, such as the opportunity to work in a room with less noise or outdoors, the opportunity to perform less physically demanding tasks or the opportunity to perform tasks that are not emotionally or cognitively demanding.

We need to think about the handling of other pain disorders (e.g., neck-shoulder pain) and mental health in order to improve the overall health-related quality of life among people with headache disorders.
Story Source:
Materials provided by University of Copenhagen - The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Thursday, April 14, 2022

The increased right-wing assault on the LGBTQ community

LGBTQ youth and families face an onslaught of hostility to their health and long-term wellbeing. Here are the headlines. Get more information in these books.

Visit Amazon Here

Order here!

Tuesday, March 15, 2022

Stress, Trauma and LGBTQ Youth

And A Thousand Moms

A presentation for Brain Awareness Week 2022

Stress, Trauma and LGBTQ Youth

More and more, the facts are settled regarding sexual development and readily available. The tragedy is they are being ignored, sometimes willfully. As Nobel prize-winning neuroscientist Eric Kandel, M.D., has said, "the problem is urgent, particularly for transgender people of color who suffer horrifically high rates of depression, substance abuse, suicide, and murder.” Speaking on a PBS special series, Dr. Eric Kandel also said, “Brain science can be a liberating influence in our lives. As we understand the biology of our own gender identity and sexual orientation better and become more comfortable with ourselves, we've become more empathic to somebody else's identity and orientation.”

Join us via Zoom